Continuous muller



Oct. 23, 1951 A. A. WICKLAND 2,572,413

- CONTINUOUS MULLER Filed Nov. 16, 1 49 I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 EN TOR.

A. A. WICKLAND CONTINUOUS MULLER Oct. 23, 1951 Filed Nov. I6, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Oct. 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTINUOUS MULLER Algot' A. Wickland, Chicago, Ill.

Application November 16, 1949, Serial No. 127,743

4 Claims.

My invention-relates to power driven mullers, designed to blend, disintegrate, compress, mull and aerate sand or similar material by a continuous process especially adapted for conditioning molding sand.

One object of my invention is to provide simple mechanical means for continuous blending, compressing and mulling molding sand and materials requiring similar treatement.

A further object sought is to provide power driven sand muller in which all working parts are accessible and in plain view for inspection and replacement when worn.

Another object of my invention is to provide equipment designed to permit simple means to vary the intensity of compression and mulling action to suit'the characteristics of the sand in order to obtain a highly uniform, satisfactory finished product.

A final object of my invention is to utilize standard machine 'parts obtainable in the market, or parts that can be furnished by machine. shop and steel fabricator, avoiding the necessity of depending upon the vendor to furnish special parts for replacement when worn out through continual usage.

Figure 1 is av front view showing the complete assembly, with inspection doors removed, to view the interior construction.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view taken on line l|, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view showing receiving hopper, machinery support framing and driving mechanism.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross: section takenon 1ine-2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlargement of the rotating member 3, muller rings 6, and semi-circular grating;

Figure 6 is a cross section, line 3-3,. Figure 5.

All. viewsshow muller rings. 6 in normal. extended running position.

The same part is designated. by the same sign wherever it occurs in the several views.

The construction of my invention is as follows:

The: device shown comprises'a main frame supporting rotatably mounted muller assemblies, also a housing enclosing stationary and moving parts. The muller assembly consists of disk 3 keyed to shaft 5. Disk 3 has a plurality of fixed studs 1 are arranged near its periphery. Circular ring 4 is bolted to studs 1 at a fixed axial distance from the face of disk 3. Each of the before mentioned studs 1 hold muller rings 6 in 2. rotatable positions between the face of disk 3 and circular ring 4'. V I

Brackets 8 are rigid members securely fastened to framing l, and the inside of housing 2. These brackets support removable side members 9 and I 0. These members have pockets l3 on the inside face, adapted to engage and support grate bars ll. Members 9 and H are held in position on brackets 8 by bolts [4 and I5; see Figure 5. Members 9 and I0 serve a further purpose of forming a retaining enclosure for the sand l2; see Figure 4.

Housing 2 is provided with inspection door 2| of the accordion type, as shown in Figure 2.

Belt conveyor 18 is of conventional construction, and it is driven by motor l9, speed reducer 20, thence by chain and sprockets, as shown.

Housing 2 is supported by structural: steel framing I, also held in vertical position by diagonal braces 2| and '22; see Figures 3 and 4.

Each of the muller ring assemblies is driven by a motor 23, through a flexible coupling 24, speed reducer 25, and conventional V belt drive 26. Driving units are mounted on platform 21, as shown on Figures 3 and 4.

Housing 2 is connected to' an exhaust system by hood 28; receiving hopper l6 and chute I1 constitute inlets for sand to be treated. See Figure 1.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Motors 23 and H] are started, and when running at full speed molding sand or similar granular material is discharged into hopper It in a continuous stream, which is regulated to the capacity of the mullers. In a short interval of time the space or void between working face of the muller rings and the grate bars will be filled; see Hl2, Figure 4. Owingto the resistance ofiere'd by the grate bars the material will accumulate and be compressed until forced through the spaces between the grate bars by the centrifugal force exerted by the muller rings.

It should be noted that the working faces of the muller rings, side plates and grate bars are some distance apart to provide necessary working. clearance and. prevent crushing and pulver izing of, the sand being processed. Since the required compression and mulling action differs for different sands, the desired compression can be increased or decreased by varying the speed of the muller ring assembly, also by changing the shape or diameter of the grating bars, allowing for larger or smaller openings between the bars. Hence the capacity of the machine, also varying degrees of blending, mulling and compission can be secured without structural changes.

The muller ring assemblies which are rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 5, are positioned some distance apart and at different elevations. By this arrangement a space is provided between the circular grate bar assemblies, which serve as an outlet for tramp iron, also as an escape for sand in case of overloading.

At the end of a run the flow of sand to the receiving hopper I6 is shut off, but motors 23 and I9 are kept running for a few minutes, and pneumatic vibrators not shown on the drawing are started to loosen sand adhering to the inside of housing 2 and other working parts.

The invention is not limited to the precise form shown, nor the details in the drawings and above described, but it may be otherwise embodied without departing from the spirit and scope of claims herein;

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a continuous muller of the class described, a frame, a housing at one side of the frame, bearing members mounted on said frame, a horizontal drive shaft rotatable in said bearing members and having one end projecting into said housing, power means for rotating said shaft, a muller assembly mounted within the housing on the projecting end of the shaft and comprising a disc affixed to the projecting end of the shaft, a plurality of spaced studs projecting laterally from the disc and having one end secured to the disc, an annular plate secured to the other end of the studs in spaced relation with the disc, muller rings freely rotatable on the studs between the disc and plate, and spaced plates disposed beneath the muller rings and provided with a plurality of spaced grate bars located a substantial distance beneath the muller rings and having their opposite ends mounted in recesses in the spaced plates, said spaced plates and grate bars being adapted to form an enclosure for receiving an accumulation of sand between the rotating muller and the grate bars and the latter arranged to provide an arcuate grating beneath the muller rings.

2. In a continuous muller of the class described, a support, a housing mounted on the support, a hopper at the forward end of the housing for supplyingsand to be treated, spaced drive shafts mounted on the support rearwardly of the hopper and at different elevations and each projecting into the housing, a rotatable muller assembly mounted for rotation upon each shaft in the housing, a stationary grating mounted in the housing below each muller assembly and spaced a substantial distance therebeneath with the first grating disposed below and rearwardly of the hopper to receive sand to be treated and the second muller assembly and its grating being spaced rearwardly and mounted at different elevations in the housing with the second grating disposed beneath and rearwardly of the first grating and in such close proximity whereby when the muller assemblies are rotated in a direction so as to move any excess sand realwardly, the sand from the first grating at a higher elevation is fed to the second grating at a lower elevation.

3. In a continuous muller of the class described, a supporting frame, a housing supported on said frame, a horizontal drive shaft projecting into the housing, means for rotating said shaft, a hopper at one end of the housing for receiving sand to be treated, a muller assembly mounted within the housing on the projecting end of the shaft and comprising a disc afiixed to the projecting end of the shaft, a plurality of spaced .studs projecting laterally from the disc and having one end secured to the disc, an annular member secured to the other end of the studs and spaced from the disc, muller rings freely rotatable on the studs between said disc and member, spaced plates disposed beneath the muller rings and provided with a plurality of spaced grate bars located a substantial distance beneath the muller rings and having their opposite ends removably mounted in recesses in the spaced plates, said spaced grate bars providing an arcuate grating forming an enclosure with the spaced plates and communicating with the hop per for receiving an accumulation of the sand to be treated.

4. In a continuous muller of the class described, a supporting frame, a housing supported on said frame, a horizontal drive shaft having one end projecting into the housing, means for rotating said shaft, a hopper at one end of the housing for receiving sand to be treated, a muller assembly mounted for rotation and enclosed within the housing and attached to the projecting end of the shaft, said assembly including a plurality of loosely mounted muller rings, an ar-I cuate grating disposed a substantial distance be-' neath the muller rings and comprising readily removable and spaced grate bars adapted to receive an accumulation of sand from said hop? per, and a hinged door in the front of the housing and when opened permitting ready access to the grating and muller assembly.

ALGOT A. WICKLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

